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The Missouri House of Representatives has passed the Emily Brooker
Intellectual Diversity Act (H.B. 213). It seems that last year at one of
MO’s institutions of higher learning Ms. Brooker had a divergence in
religious views with her social work professor especially in regards to an
assignment. She was unhappy that her views were not attended to and this is the
fruit of that event. The bill has 13 provisions in it but the one that is most
likely to impinge on human anatomy and physiology instruction prohibits
discrimination against discrimination founded on personal views including:
“…intellectual diversity concerns in the institution’s
guidelines on teaching and program development and such concerns shall include
but not be limited to the protection of religious freedom including the viewpoint
that the Bible is inerrant….” The Missouri Senate Education Committee recommended passage
to the whole senate and the bill is awaiting placement on that body’s
calendar. The Theory of Evolution is the first thing that everyone
thinks about here but there are other areas that give pause to a professor or
teacher: 1.
Psychopharaceutical use and the Church of Scientology; 2.
The use of human blood and certain religious groups; 3.
Geologists and physicists very frequently provide
information at odds with the literal Bible; 4.
Psychology professors should realize that their very
practice is at odds with the views of many Moslems; 5.
And the old issue was that the Roman Catholic Church at
one time found that there was an issue with the use of human
cadavers—will this be “resurrected?” David Evans HAPS-PRO |